\\  i  ry  Architectural  and  Fine  Ar  is  Library 
(in  i  ni  Seymour  B.  Di  ksi  Oi  n  York  Liurary 


icx  iCtbris 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


IVhen  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Sver'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


SERIOUS  APPEAL 


TO  THE 


WISDOM  AND  PATRIOTISM 


OF  THE 


LEGISLATURE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW-tfOJRK; 


ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF 


A  CANAL  COMMUNICATION 


BETWEEN  THE 


GREAT  WESTERN  LAKES 


AND  THE 


TIDE  WATERS  OP  THE  HUDSON 


BY  A  FRIEND  TO  HIS  COUNTRt 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR. 
181ft. 


TC 


SERIOUS  APPEAL,  &c 


TO  THE  HONORABLE  THE  SENATE  AND  MEMBERS 
OF  ASSEMBLY. 

WHEN  a  pacific  but  high-spirited  people,  in  passing 
from  infancy  to  manhood,  is  assailed  by  a  haughty  and 
powerful  foe,  and  emerges  from  a  doubt  of  its  own 
strength  to  triumphant  confidence  and  glorious  peace, 
the  period  must  shortly  arrive  when  it  will  command  an 
exalted  station  in  the  society  of  nations,  and  its  move- 
ments be  regarded  with  attentive  jealousy.  The  lustre 
of  success  serves  at  once  to  tempt  indiscretion  and  mag- 
nify its  weakness.  At  such  a  moment  it  is  peculiarly  in- 
cumbent on  every  member  of  the  political  compact  to 
preserve  its  own  honor  pure  and  unsuspected,  and  to 
wield  its  resources  with  steady  and  cautious  energy  in 
diffusing  wealth  and  its  comforts,  knowledge  and  its  ele- 
vation, religion  and  its  blessings. 

Seven  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  consideration 
of  the  Grand  Canal  w  as  first  submitted  to  the  Fathers  of 
the  commonwealth.  At  successive  revolutions  its  con- 
templation has  been  solemnly  revived.  The  choicest 
talents  in  our  state  have  been  enlisted  in  its  survey.- — 
Year  has  succeeded  year,  each  expanding  information, 
and  corroborating  its  importance  and  practicability. — - 
The  legislatures  of  many  sister  states  have  bestowed 
their  unqualified  and  magnanimous  approbation,*  and 
the  State  of  New- York  stands  solemnly  pledged  to  the 
general  government,  that  the  work  is  feasible  and  wor- 
thy of  national  acquisition-f 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  design  is  stupendous,  nor 
that  its  accomplishment  will  diffuse  incalculable  bles- 
sings. The  ordinary  benefits  of  inland  navigation  are 
w  ell  known — to  facilitate  transportation  ;  to  save  time 
and  labor;  to  augment  national  wealth;  to  enliven  in- 

*SeeRepoi\  of  Commissioner*.  1812,  p  .gis  i,  5  unc  G. 
|  Report  oi '  Commissioners,  1812. 


f   4  ] 


tercommunication ;  mitigate  prejudices,  enfeeble  local  at 
tachments,  approximate  distant  sections,  and  consolidate 
government ;  to  facilitate  military  operations,  give  pre- 
cision to  military  calculation,  and  enlarge  external  pow- 
er. But  the  peculiar  advantages  promised  by  the  pro- 
posed canal,  entitle  it  to  unbiassed  investigation,  and 
every  objection  merits  cautious  consideration ;  respect  is 
due  to  the  prejudices  of  the  community,  and  no  measures 
are  so  little  exposed  to  accident,  as  those  which  are 
adopted  with  circumspection. 

In  the  succeeding  remarks  it  is  my  intention  to  ana 
lyse  the  expediency  and  practicability  of  commencing 
that  sublime  work  ;  the  consequence*,  certain  and  pro- 
bable, that  will  attend  its  accomplishment  upon  the  mo- 
nied,  moral,  and  political  aggrandisement  of  t lie  state; 
to  determine  the  facilities  of  furnishing  the  requisite  wa- 
ter, labor  and  money  ;  to  concentrate  the  information 
that  has  been  furnished,  and  present  a  few  plain  and 
simple  reflections. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  expediency  of  the  proposed 
measure,  let  us  suppose  the  obstacles,  however  great,  re- 
moved, and  the  work,  however  arduous,  accomplished. 
Let  us  suppose  a  canal  navigation  now  perfected  be- 
tween Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson;  what  would  be  the 
consequences? 

These  may  be  divided  first,  into  such  as  affect  Alba- 
ny and  IN kw-Yokk,  and  such  as  affect  the  State  ;  and 
secondly,  such  as  are  certain  and  such  as  are  probable. 

During  the  embargo  in  1808,  vast  quantities  of  flour 
and  pot-ash  were  smuggled  across  our  northern  frontier 
into  Canada.  The  arm  of  government  and  the  rigor  of 
law  were  imposed  in  vain.  New- York,  the  accustomed 
vent,  no  longer  furnished  a  market,  and  traders  sought 
one  at  Montreal.  The  produce  of  Vermont,  as  far  south 
as  Middlebury  ;  of  Clinton,  Essex,  Franklin,  St.  Law- 
rence, Jefferson,  Oneida,  Onondaga,  Cayuga,  Ontario, 
Genesee  and  Niagara  counties  centered  there. 

Bi  itisli  merchandise  is  imported  into  Canada  free  of 
duty,  but  before  the  imposition  of  the  embargo,  the  fact 
was  little  known. 

Hence  that  measure  operated  three  important  changes. 
It  diverted  lie  produce  of  the  western  counties;  anima- 
ted the  commerce  of  Montreal,  and  disclosed  the  temp 


[     5  ] 


tations  to  smuggling.  What  was  commenced  from  ne- 
cessity, has  been  continued  from  calculation.  Every 
day  is  familiarising  that  channel  and  diminishing  its  im- 
pediments. 

To  counteract  all  these  evils  is  impracticable;  but, 
the  proposed  canal  finished,  their  eliects  would  be  miti- 
gated, and  the  trade  of  Oneida,  Onondaga,  Cayuga,  fee- 
neca,  Ontario,  Genesee,  Niagara,  Chatauqua  and  Cata- 
raugus  with  certainty  reclaimed  from  Montreal  and  re- 
stored to  New-York :  With  certainty,  because  a  barrel 
of  flour  from  Salina  to  Montreal  costs  one  dollar — by 
the  canal  to  Albany,  twelve  cents;  from  Cayuga  to 
Montreal,  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents,  to  Albany  eighteen 
cents;  from  Buffalo  to  Montreal  one  dollar  and  fifty 
cents,  to  Albany  thirty  cents.  The  same  ratio  applies 
to  every  article  of  transportation. 

Is  this  trade  valuable  and  annually  augmenting?  I 
submit  the  following  facts. 


Acres 

InhabV. 

Oneida  County  contains 

1,303,040 

*33,792 

Onondaga 

580,480 

25,987 

Madison 

394,240 

25,140 

Cayuga 

540,800 

29,840 

Seneca 

476,160 

16,609 

Ontario 

1,137,600 

42,026 

Genesee 

1,115,520 

12,644 

Niagara 

899,200 

6,032 

Cataraugus 

826,880 

500 

Chatauqua 

550,120 

2,381 

7,824,040 

194,951 

Large  tracts  of  this  vast  territory  are  yet  unsettled. — 
The  land  varies  in  quality,  sometimes  favoring  pasture, 
sometimes  arable,  and  sometimes  neither,  but  as  a  whole 
its  fertility  is  well  known.  Thirty  years  ago  it  was  a 
wilderness:  If  one  tenth  be  now  under  cultivation,  and 
each  acre  yield  an  average  surplus  value  of  five  bushels 
the  present  annual  redundance  is  eqtml  to  3,700,000 
bushels  of  wheat  or  £5,000,000.  Of  this  surplus  produce 
all  that  will  bear  transportation  to  Lake  Ontario  now 
passes  down  to  Montreal.-  If  the  present  surplus  amount 

*  SpafTord'a  Gazetteer,  p.  88, 89,  8J.,  67,  102,  91, 77,  87,  65,  67. 


to  .'i,700,000  bushels  in  value,  the  period  is  rapidly  ap- 
proaching when  it  will  swell  to  an  annual  redundance  of 
40,000,000  bushel?.  Js  this  trade  worth  preserving?  A- 
gain,  the  demand  for  lumber  is  increasing  annually,  and 
the  sources  of  supply  are  proportionally  diminishing. 
Within  five  years  our  exports  of  staves  and  heading  has 
dwindled  greatly,and  the  price  has  trebled.  Hitherto  the 
country  bordering  on  t lie  Hudson,  and  Virginia,  have 
supplied  the  New-York  market;  square  timber,  oak 
plank  and  pine  board?  are  furnished  from  the  Hudson 
and  are  daily  becoming  rarer  and  dearer;  the  advance 
upon  these  is  already  sufficient  to  justify  shipments  from 
the  Distiict  of  Maine.* 

The  Canal  completed,  another  source  of  supply  more 
abundant  and  valuable  would  be  opened  ;  timber  could 
he  transported  from  Cayuga  to  Albany  as  cheap- 
ly as  it  now  can  from  Fort  Edward  or  Stillwater; 
The  country  between  Cayuga  lake  and  Home  is  covered 
with  oak  timber,  whose  magnitude  and  quality  delight 
the  traveller.  What  is  now  in  many  places  an  incum- 
brance to  the  land,  would  become  an  important  item  in 
revenue  to  the  county,  while  it  enriched  New- York  by 
enlarging  its  exportation. 

Again,  the  population  of  the  counties  above  named  is 
daily  and  vastly  augmenting;  their  wealth  keepsjpace 
w  ith  that  increase,  and  the  consumption  of  foreign  lux- 
uries is  commensurably  enlarged.  Every  additional 
settler  in  the  western  country  thus  becomes  an  accession 
of  wealth  to  Albany  and  New-York,  by  furnishing  his 
surplus  produce  and  purchasing  its  imported  merchan- 
dise ;  While  each  district  receives  warmth  and  nutriment 
only  from  the  little  sphere  that  encircles  it,  New- York 
oecomes  the  grand  focus  of  rays  from  every  part  :  Its 
foreign  commerce  must  be  proportionably  enlarged. 

These  are  certain,  vast  and  cumulative  advantages 
that  would  now  accrue  to  the  cities  of  Albany  and  New- 
York,  were  the  Grand  Canal  completed. 

W  hat  certain  benefits  would  it  confer  upon  the  State  ? 

The  salt-works  at  Onondaga  are  said  to  be  inexhausl- 
ible.f    Madison,  Oneida,  Onondaga,  Cayuga,  Seneca, 

*  This  fact  is  well  known  to  many  merchants  in  New-York.  It  frequently 
is  put  on  board  far  tillage,  but  of  late  it  has  not  been  uncommon  to  ship  it  on 
speculation. 

|  Spaffv>id's  Gazetteer,  p.  90. 


L    7  3 


Ontario,  Genesee,  Niagara,  Steuben,  Cataraugus  and 
Chatauque  counties  are  principally  supplied  from  them. 
The  quantity  manufactured  is  increasing  annually  ;  but 
the  want  of  fuel  in  the  immediate  vicinity  is  sensibly  felt, 
and  threatens  to  check  their  permanent  expansion.  LTpon 
the  canal  fuel  could  be  transported  50  miles  more  cheaply 
than  by  land  it  can  five  :  Two  important  purposes  would 
thus  be  subserved  :  The  works  could  be  indefinitely  en- 
larged, the  article  be  furnished  at  a  cheaper  rale  and 
supply  a  wider  market. 

Again,  the  quality  of  the  gypsum  found  at  Onondaga 
is  equal  to  that  imported  ;  its  beds  are  said  to  be  inex- 
haustible ;  nevertheless,  Rockland,  Sullivan,  Orange, 
Ulster  Greene,  Albany,  Saratoga,  Washington,  Rens- 
selaer, Columbia,  Duchess  and  Westchester  counties  are 
furnished  from  Nova  Scotia  at  ten,  twelve  and  fourteen 
dollars  per  ton.  The  Onondaga  gypsum  cannot  com- 
pete with  it,  although  delivered  at  two  dollars  per  ton 
at  the  pits,  because  land-carriage  is  so  expensive.  The 
Canal  completed,  gypsum  could  be  furnished  at  three 
and  a  half  dollars  per  ton  at  Albany,  and  contend  with 
Nova  Scotia  gypsum  at  eight  dollars,  below  which  it 
cannot  he  imported. 

Other  considerations  are  not  destitute  of  importance. 
We  are  permitted  to  carry  nothing  to  Nova  Scotia  : 
The  trade  we  prosecute  wit  h  that  country  furnishes  no 
reciprocity  of  benefits.  It  draws  our  treasure  and  en- 
riches a  rival :  These  are  certain,  vast  and  cumulative 
advantages  that  would  nowT  accrue  to  the  State,  were 
the  canal  completed. 

1  wave  the  consideration  of  the  multifarious  benefits 
derived  from  labor  saved,  circulation  quickened,  and 
commerce  animated  ;  the  conveniences  afforded  to  buil- 
ding, manuring,  milting  and  the  infinite  details  of  agri- 
cultural life.  These  are  no  less  certain  but  cannot  be 
pourtrayed  with  certainty. 

2d.  What  will  be  its  p-obabk  consequences?  Lakes 
E«ie,  Michigan,  and  Huron,  are  in  the  aggregate  more 
than  2000  miles  in  circumference.  Navigation  from  the 
ext.  erne  point  of  Huron,  to  the  extreme  point  of  Erie,  is 
uninterrupted,  for  vessels  drawing  eight  feet.f  The  coun- 
try that  environs  them,  is  scarcely"  cultivated.  Wha* 

+  See  JgricdtBy  published  by  Gould,  New- York,  1807,  page  14, 


L    B  ] 


remains  in  wilderness,  is  covered  with  huge  timber,  and 
is  fertile— The  country  bordering  on  the  lakeB  beyond 
Huron,  is  still  i.iorv  rude,  it  is,  however^  saiij  to  be  fer- 
tile, and  Us  pr<  (luce  u-usf  follow  the  coure  ol  their  wa- 
ters, ^ut  f  7:;\r  (!  e  consideration  of  it,  as  lying  too 
remote  for  stcuie  estimation.  Tlie  profiuce  of  ihi9 
country,  and  its  demand  for  foreigrt  merchandize,  must, 
at  some  future  da;  ,  be  immense — at  present  its  principal 
value  is  dt  rived  ir<>  u  the  fui  trade,  wliich  is  monopolized 
by  the  north-west  company.  Their  establishment-  are 
formed,  and  their  agents  are  known  to  the  Indians — com- 
petition w  i  ;  theif  '  re  Bad  serious  obstacles  to  encounter. 

But  furs  tending  to  Montreal,  labour  under  some  dis- 
advanlaiM  v.  'J  I  eventual  market  for  them  is  China, 
and  no  direct  trade  is  permitted  ;  and  they  mus;  there- 
fine,  be  landed  in  England,  before  they  can  seek  the 
place  of  consumption.  If  then,  Furs  can  be  transport- 
ed as  che  aply  to  New- York,  as  to  Montreal,  they  will 
bt  nearer  the  eventual  market.  It  is  my  impression, 
that  the  expanse  will  be  less,  and  that  the  difference 
ma;  be  weighed  against  the  preoccupancy  of  the  north- 
west company  ;  for  whether  they  are  destined  to  Mon- 
treal or  New- York,  Buffalo,  or  some  town  adjacent, 
must  ne  tlit-  transient  depot ;  from  Buffalo  to  New-  Y,>rk, 
the  transportation  would  be  five  and  a  half  dollars  per 
ton,  and  to  Montreal,  it  is  fifteen  dollars. 

But  what  is  the  present  course  of  that  trade  ?  It  is 
not  le>s  surprising  than  true,  that  more  than  one  half  of 
th:  Furs  that  n  w  go  to  Montreal,  are  shipped  to  Chi- 
na from  New-York,  in  the  hame  manner  and  upon  the 
same  principle  that  New- York  supplies  Montreal  with 
tin.  major  part vof  the  Teas  consumed  in  Canada;  both 
Purs  and  Tea  can  be  laid  down  cheaper  at  New  York, 
than  in  England,  and  are  nearer  the  eventual  market. 
"J  o  thirds  of  all  the  Furs  collected  annually,  are  now 
portaged  round  the  Falls  of  Niagara ;  of  the  remaining 
third,  a  small  portion  passes  to  Montreal  by  the  northern 
side  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  residue  to  New- York, 
Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  by  a  route  from  Lake  Mi- 
chigan, which  it  is  needless  to  explain. 

1  regret  that  my  efforts  to  ascertain  the  value  of  this 
tia       ave  been  unavailing. 

Political  considerations  too,  are  not  w  ithout  weight ; 


[    9  ] 


faithless  as  the  Indians  arc,  interest  has  some  tie  upon 
their  friendship  ;  whatever  tends  to  propitiate  them  to 
us,  proportionally  estranges  them  from  the  British,  and 
diminishes  the  hazard  of  disturbance  on  our  borders. 

Again,  thirty  years  ago  the  western  section  of  our 
state  was  a  wilderness :  Thirty  years  hence,  the  coun- 
try bordering  on  Lake  Huron  will  be  to  the  western 
section  what  this  section  now  is  to  the  state.  As  the 
country  within  50  miles  of  the  Hudson,  transports  its 
surplus  produce  on  the  waters  of  that  river,  the  coun- 
try within  50  miles  of  the  great  lakes  will  transport  its 
produce  on  their  waters.  If  the  aggregate  circumfe- 
rence of  lakes  Erie,  Michigan  and  Huron,  be  2000 
miles,  the  number  of  acres  that  will  furnish  produce, 
sooner  or  later,  to  their  waters  will  be 

2000  x  50  x  640  =  64,000,000  Acres. 
When  calculation  swells  into  millions,  the  mind  be- 
comes bewildered,  and  mistrusts  its  own  convictions ; 
tbe  magnitude  of  the  subject  operates  inversely,  and  we 
dread  most  to  promulge  our  opinions  at  the  very  mo- 
ment we  are  most  firmly  persuaded  of  their  certainty. 
No  man  can  doubt  that  the  above  estimate  is  based  up- 
on truth;  nor  that  al  a  period  which  the  sun  will  soon 
attain,  this  mighty  district  must  be  cultivated  :  Yet  the 
inferences  to  which  it  leads  are  stupendous  enough  to 
arrest  the  judgment  and  overawe  the  imagination.  As 
the  time  must  come,  when  it  will  all  be  cultivated,  it 
must  also  come  when  its  annual  surplus  produce  will 
average  a  value  of  two  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  or 
128,000,000  bushels  for  annual  exportation. 

These  results  appal  conception,  and  yet  they  are  in- 
controvertible. They  are  in  harmony  with  the  unex- 
ampled expansion  of  our  beloved  country,  and  whHe 
they  presage  the  high  destinies  to  which  it  is  appointed, 
they  proclaim  the  momentous  duties  which  her  citizens' 
are  bounden  to  fulfil.  Nations,  like  individuals,  are  en- 
dued with  various  powers,  and  bounden  by  various  re- 
sponsibilities. In  that  vast  chain  of  mortal  and  immor- 
tal, which  connects  the  heavens  and  earth,  and  links  man 
to  his  maker,  a  part  is  allotted  to  each,  and  a  requital 
for  good  or  evil  done.  National  greatness  is  the  off- 
spring of  national  exertion,  and  national  happiness  finds 
nutriment  only  in  national  virtue. 

h 


If  then  the  last  war  lias  assisted  us  to  explore  this  va^i 
Icrrilory,  and  its  population  and  trade  are  daily  expan- 
ding it  cannot  Ik-  useless  or  untimely  to  enquire  what 
market  will  receive  it*  surplus  produce  and  supply  its 
imported  merchandise. 

No  proposition  is  perhaps  less  susceptible  of  cavil, 
than  that  produce  will  <  vcntually  center  in  that  market 
which  is  at  once  most  affluent  in  capital,  and  the  nearest, 
cheapest  and  easiest  of  access.  If  the  trade  of  that  im- 
mense territory  must  shorth  In  come  so  valuable,  it  may 
uatmally  he  expected  that  competition  will  he  active  and 
i indefatigable.  The  three  competing  rivals  will  he  New- 
Orleans,  New- York  and  Montreal,  and  to  ascertain 
with  precision  their  respective  claims,  it  is  indispensa- 
ble to  consider  the  actual  and  probable  condition  of 
that  trade. 

The  trade  of  T  akes  Erie,  Michigan  and  Huron,  now 
centers  at  Montreal  :  It  consist-  principally  of  Pot-ash, 
Horn  and  furs  exported  ;  and  of  European  manufactures 
and  Eaht  and  West-India  produce  imported.  In  tb$ 
present  rude  state  of  the  country,  therefore,  New-Or- 
leans cannot  compete  with  Montreal :  The  distance 
from  any  point  on  the  lakes  to  Montreal  is  less  than  to 
New-Orleans.  Their  waters  tend  toward  the  St  Law 
rence,  and  produce,  in  seeking  that  market,  constantly 
descends  ;  in  seeking  New-Orleans,  produce  must  as- 
cend the  waters  that  flow  into  the  lakes,  before  it  can 
enter  the  descending  waters  to  New-Orleans  :  Hence, 
circumstance  and  situation  sanction  the  opinion  that 
New-Orleans  can  sever  compete  with  Montreal. 

If  then  produce  now  seeks  Montreal,  because  it  i^ 
more  affluent  in  capital,  and  nearer,  cheaper  and  easier 
of  access  than  New-Orleans ;  and  if  it  can  be  brought 

New-York  by  the  canal,  more  cheaply,  nearly  add 
easily  than  to  Montreal,  it  will  seek  New-York. 

As  the  produce  of  the  country  environing  the  lakes, 
must  be  portaged  round  the  falls  of  Niagara,  before  it 
can  descend  to  Montreal,  Buffalo,  or  some  spot  adjacent, 
must  become  its  grand  depository.  If  then  the  trans- 
portation from  Buffalo  to  New-York,  by  means  of  a  ca- 
nal, would  be  less  expensive,  less  tedious  and  more  cer- 
tain than  from  Buffalo  to  Montreal,  it  will  come  io 
New-York. 


[    H  ] 


It  will  be  less  expensive. 

A  barrel  of  flour,  delivered  at  Montreal,  now  costs  one 
dollar  and  fifty  cents — delivered  by  the  canal  and  the 
Hudson  at  New-York,  it  would  cost  fifty-five  cents. 
A  ton  of  sugar,  delivered  at  Buffalo  from  Montreal,  now 
costs  twenty-five  dollars,*  delivered  by  the  canal  from 
.New-York,  it  would  cost  five  and  one  half  dollars. 

It  would  be  less  tedious. 

It  is  perhaps  true  that  the  navigation  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence can  be  improved,  so  that  sloops  may  navigate 
from  Montreal  to  Kingston,  but  no  practicable  improve- 
ment can  ever  correct  its  current.  Under  any  circum- 
stances, therefore,  its  navigation  will  be  inferior  to  that 
of  the  Hudson,  and  more  expensive.  The  navigation 
of  Lake  Ontario  from  Kingston  or  Ggdensburgh  to  Lew- 
istown,  250  miles,  cannot  certainly  be  more  attractive, 
than  that  along  the  canal,  300  miles,  to  Buffalo,  and  the 
portage  from  Lewistown  to  Buffalo  would  occasion  two 
debarkations  and  two  embarkations  additional. 

In  what  manner  produce  would  be  most  commodious- 
Ay  and  speedily  conveyed  upon  the  proposed  canal ; 
whether  by  horses,  or  by  steam-engines,  or  towing  boats, 
is  not  within  my  province  to  determine.  It  is  weli 
known  that  in  1803  Fulton -drew*  two  loaded  boats  by  a 
steam-boat,  at  the  rate  of  3  miles  per  hour,  against  the 
stream  of  the  Seine,  whose  current  is  never  less  than 
3  miles  per  hour,t  and  that  steam-boats  are  superseding 
the  use  of  horses,  and  the  necessity  of  towing  paths,  up- 
on the  canals  in  England ;  they  are  probably  more 
convenient  and  expeditious.  It  is  also  weli  known  that 
one  horse  can  draw  30  tons  at  the  rate  of  three  miles 
per  hour  upon  a  canal.  Were  the  business  of  transpor- 
tation upon  the  proposed  canal  well  routined,  nothing 
would  prevent  its  incessant  prosecution  by  night  as  well 
as  by  day,  except  the  wrant  of  relays  of  horses  and  the 
fatigue  of  lockage.    It  is  not  perhaps  unreasonable  to 

*  This  estimate  is  founded  on  the  following  basis.  The  report  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  1811,  p. -23,  says,  Ihe  cheapest  rate  of  transportation  from 
Montreal  to  Kingston  upward,  is  one  dollar  per  cwt.  or  twenty  dollars  per  too. 
If  the  freight  from  Kingston  to  Lew  istown  across  Lake  Ontario  be  no  more 
1han  from  Albany  to  New-Yoik,  it  will  add  twenty-five  cents  per  barrel  ©f 
flour,  or  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  ton,  and  if  the  portage  from  Lewis- 
town  to  Buffalo  be  only  twenty-fi\e  cents  per  bairel,  it  will  add  two  dollar 
and  fifty  cents,  making;  aw  aggregate  of  tw*nty-tive  dollars  per  ton. 
Agricultural  Magazine,  vol.  9,  p,  21C. 


[   12  ] 


infer  that  both  these  obstacles  would  be  removed,  and 
that  boats  would  pass  seventy-five  miles  per  day.  The 
voyage  from  Birffalo  to  Albany  would  thus  be  four 
days,  or  one  week  from  Bulialo  to  New-York. 

The  voyage  from  Lcwistown  to  Montreal  is  rarely 
performed  downward  in  less  than  six  days,  upward  it 
eonsumes  a  fortnight. 

Jt  would  he  more  certain. 

The  navigation  of  the  Hudson  is  more  certain  than 
that  of  the  St.  Lawrence;  the  former  is  uninterrupted, 
the  latter  is  obstructed  by  rapids,  and  navigated  above 
Montreal  onlv  by  batteaux.  The  former  is  navigable 
nine  months  in  the  year;  the  latter  only  live.  The 
vast  expanse  of  Lake  Ontario  renders  it  at  ail  times  ve- 
ry boisteious — its  waves  curl  and  heave  like  those  of 
the  ocean.  The  canal  would  present  a  surface  always 
smooth  and  serene.  In  winter  Lake  Ontario  is  impassa- 
ble— In  winter,  the  canal  would  furnish  a  commodious, 
level,  direct  and  certain  road.  If  the  ice  broke,  neither 
property  nor  life  would  be  jeopardised,  because  its  wa- 
ters would  be  shallow,  and  its  current  creeping! 

If  then  the  p:oduce  of  the  immense  tract,  bordering 
upon  the  lakes,  not  less  than  (54,000,000  acres  of  fertile 
land,  must  center  at  or  near  Buffalo  ;  and  if  I  he  trans- 
portation from  that  point  to  New-York  would  upon  the 
proposed  canal  be  less  expensive,  less  tedious  and  more 
certain  than  to  Montreal,  the  canal  wo'uld  secure  it  to 
New- York. 

Again,  if  the  produce  of  that  vast  country  would  seek 
New-York,  stronger  and  less  disputable  causes  would 
render  that  city  the  fountain  of  supply  for  all  its  foreign 
commodities.  Years,  perhaps  centuries,  must  i  oil  away, 
before  its  population  can  become  sufficiently  matured 
to  justify  the  establishment  of  domestic  manufactures. 
Would  not,  then,  this  immense  territory  become  to  the 
state  and  cities  of  Albany  and  New- York  what  the 
United  States  were  before  the  revolution  to  Great-Bri- 
tain? "  When  I  had  the  honor"  said  Lord  Chatham,  u  of 
(<  serving  the  crown,  1  availed  myself  of  information 
*c  which  I  derived  from  my  office.  I  speak  therefore 
♦'from  knowledge  :  My  materials  were  good  :  I  was  at 
4<  pains  to  collect,  to  digest,  to  consider  them,  and  I  will 
*'  he  bold  to  affirm  that  the  profits  to  Great-Britain  from 


[    13  ] 


(t  the  trade  of  the  colonies,  through  all  its  branches,  is 
"two  millions  sterling  a  year."*  All  the  cotton  and 
woollen  fabrics ;  all  the  the  iron-mongery,  tea,  sugar  and 
West  India  produce  consumed  within  it,  would  be  de- 
rived from  New- York. 

Again,  Pittsburg  and  Louisville  are  the  great  de- 
pots of  foreign  merchandize,  furnished  to  the  western 
parts  of  Virginia,  to  Ohio,  to  Indiana  and  Kentucky. 
They  are  now  brought  to  these  places  from  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore  and  New-Orleans :  Each  knows  the  im- 
portance of  the  trade,  and  is  using  strenuous  efforts  to 
secure  it.  Baltimore  is  constructing  a  turnpike  road  to 
Brownsville  on  the  Monongahela,  and  is  aided  by  the 
general  government.  Philadelphia  is  improving  the 
road  across  the  Alleghany  Ridge:  and  New-Orleans  is 
affording  every  facility  to  steam-boats  carrying  freight, 
and  plying  to  Louisville  and  Pittsburg.  Each  of 
these  routes  has  its  inconveniences.  The  distance  from 
Pittsburg  to  Philadelphia  is  320  miles,  by  land  only — 
The  road  crosses  the  .Alleghany  mountains  by  five  suc- 
cessive spurs,  viz.  Chesnut  ridge,  Laurel  mountain,  Al- 
leghany, properly  so  called,  Sliding  Mill,  and  North 
mountain.  In- its  present  state  it  is  hideous,  and  is  diffi- 
cult of  improvement.  The  road  from  Brownsville  also 
crosses  the  Alleghany,  and  the  distance  is,  I  believe;  220 
miles.  The  distance  from  Brownsville  to  Pittsburg  bv 
the  Monongahela  is  56  mile-. 

The  time  consumed  in  delivering  produce  or  goods 
passing  frtttn  Pittsburgh  ih  Philadelphia,  averages  16 
days;  and  that  from  Pittsburg  to  Baltimore,  14.  The 
expense  horn  Brownsville  to  Baltimore  is  g  5  per  cwt.f 
or  S  100  per  ton  ;  that  from  Pittsburg  to  Philadelphia 
is  $  6  per  cwt.  or  S  120  per  ton. 

I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  with  precision,  the 
rates  of  freight  from  New-Orleans  to  Pittsburg  ;  in  1814, 
it  was  estimated  that  it  would  not  exceed  $3  per  cwt, 
or  $60  per  ton,  when  the  steam  boats  were  brought  in- 
to full  operation. J  The  voyage  varies  in  length,  but 
has  never  been  less  than  13  running  days  to  Louisville  ; 
its  average  to  that  place,  may  be  fairly  estimated  at  30 
days,  and  to  Pittsburg,  45  days. 


*  Speech  on  American  taxation.  KuzleU's  British  Eloquence,  vol.  2. 
4  Pittsburg  Navigator,  p.  f&,  t  Ditto,    p.  G5. 


[   M  J 

If  iben  the  Grand  Canal  would  open  a  channel  of 
communication  to  Pittsburg,  less  tedious,  less  expensive 
and  less  dangerous  than  either  channel  now  used,  is  it 
not  probable  that  New-York  would  also  supply  that 
vast  country  with  foreign  merchandize  !  I  submit  tho 
following  estimates  and  tacts. 

The  distance  from  Buffalo  to  Pittsburg  by  Presrju' 
Isle  and  the  Alleghany  is  310  milt  s.  From  Buffalo  to 
New- York,  the  voyage  by  the  Canal  would  not  exceed 
"7  days.  If  then,  it.  could  be  completed  from  Buffalo  to 
Pittsburg  in  7  days,  the  time  would  be  as  shell  as  that 
now*  consumed  by  any  other  route  ;  1  believe  it  can,  and 
for  these  reasons:  the  channel  from  Buffalo  to  Picsfju' 
Isle,  is  by  the  water  of  Lake  Erie  ;  from  Pi  esq  if  Isle 
to  Le  Bajuf,  by  a  portage  of  lr>  miles,  and  thence  down 
the  Alleghany  to  Pittsburg.  The  Alleghany  is  naviga- 
ble eight  months  in  the  year,  for  boats  often  tons,  from 
Le  B&lif  to  Pittsburg :  its  surface  is  uninterrupted  by 
falls:  its  summer  current  is  at  the  rate  of  2  1  2  miles, 
and  its  spring  current  rarely  exceeds  i  miles  per  hour.* 
It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  add,  that  the  portage  be- 
tween Presqtt'  lble  and  Le  Beeuf  is  already  turnpiked, 
and  that  the  route  is  so  far  from  being  novel,  that  before 
iheKenhawa  salt  works  undersold  the  Onondaga  ;  more 
than  10,000  barrels  w  ere  annually  sent  from  ^alina  in 
this  state,  to  Pittsburg,  by  this  channel.f 

Boats  now  make  a  trip  up  in  27  days,  and  down  in  0 
day  s.J 

But  if  the  route  from  New-York  to  Pittsburg  by  Buf- 
falo would  be  less  tedious  than  from  Baltimore,  Phila- 
delphia or  .New-Orleans,  how  obvious  is  it  that  it  must 
be  less  expensive  1  To  demonstrate  it  would  be  wast- 
ing  time. 

This  branch  of  my  subject  is  incalculably  important, 
and  will  justify  further  detail.  Deliberate  and  cautious 
reflection  has  convinced  me  that  New- York  would  fur- 
nish the  whole  western  country,  as  far  south  as  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio ;  but  I  may  err,  and  I  wish  to  avoid 
the  semblance  of  intemperate  enthusiasm.  Scepticism 
itself  cannot,  however,  deny  that  the  voyage  from  Eu- 

*  Pittsburg  Navigator,  p.  18. 
f  Pittsburg  Navigator,  p.  19. 


|  Ditto,   p.  20- 


[    15  ] 


rope  to  New-York  is  shorter,  by  twenty-five  days,  than 
to  New-Orleans  ;  that  insurance  is  lower  ;  that  capital 
always  commands  trade,  and  New-York  enjoys  an  enor- 
mous preponderance;  that  New-Orleans  is  a  sepulchre 
festooned  with  gold  ;  that  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi is  subject  to  fluctuating  dangers,  which  skill  can- 
not always  avert,  nor  experience  anticipate  ;  and  that 
European  goods  from  New- York,  could  be  furnished" 
by  the  proposed  Canal,  at  Louisville,  45  days  earlier  in 
the  spring  than  from  New-Orleans.  Circumstance  and 
( alculation  also  jwstify  the  belief,  that  the  proposed  Ca~ 
nal  would  open  a  channel  through  which  that  supply 
would  pass  from  New-York  to  Pittsburgh  at  an  expense 
of  transportation,  50  per  cent,  less  than  from  New-Or- 
leans ;  75  per  cent,  less  than  from  Baltimore,  and  SO  per 
cent,  less  than  from  Philadelphia. 

I  am  not  unconscious  of  the  fallacy  of  too  devoted  a 
reliance  upon  the  streams  of  our  country  ;  their  charac- 
ter is  not  yet  determined;  they  run  through  wilder- 
nesses, morasses  and  swamps;  cultivation  will  open 
their  feeders  to  the  sun,  and  diminish  them.  But  it  is 
310  less  true,  that  if  known  streams  wiM  sometimes  be 
dried,  hidden  ones  will  sometimes  be  discovered.*  I 
present  things  as  they  are,  and  solicit  your  attention  and 
enquiry.  1  pretend  to  no  merit,  but  an  honest  and  ar- 
dent zeal  for  the  honor  of  my  country,  and  the  improve- 
ment and  aggrandizement  of  my  native  state.  If  the  lit- 
tle information  that  industry  has  furnished  me,  prove  a 
beacon  to  more  useful  inferences,  some  benefit  will  be 
conferred;  and  if  the  effort  be  impotent,  my  obscurity 
will  shield  me  from  censure, 

Again,  the  soil  of  Kentucky  is  peculiarly  congenial 
to  the  culture  of  hemp.  In  1810,  eight  hundred  tons 
were  raised,  and  the  quantity  is  annually  increasing, 
The  farmers  are  daily  becoming  more  adroit  in  curing 
it,  and  its  quality  is  proportionally  improving. 

It  now  finds  a  market,  partly  at  Pittsburg,  and  thence 
to  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  and  partly  at  New-Or- 
leans. Of  800  tons  raised  in  1810,  600  tons  were  spun 
into  yarn  and  cordage,  and  brought  up  the  Ohio  to 
Pittsburgh 

*  The  improvement  of  (he  Walkill,  at  the  Outlet,  has  added  permanently 
to  (lie  supply  of  water  below  it. 

•  Pittsburg  Navigator,  p.  63. 


[  JO  j 


If  the  Canal  wore  completed,  this  trade  would  proba- 
bly centre  at  New  York. 

Again,  the  Lead  Mines  of  Louisiana  arc  situated  50 
miles  west  of  St.  Louis,  on  the  Missouri.  They  em- 
brace a  district  50  miles  long  and  2o  miles  broad.  The 
ore  is  so  rich  as  to  yield  eighty,  and  sometimes  ninety 
per  cent,  and  is  found  in  veins  of  one  foot  in  diameter, 
at  the  depth  of  10,  12,  and  20  feet.  The  primary  depot 
if  St.  Genevieve,  from  whence  it  is  transported,  partly 

•  'own  the  Mississippi  to  New-Orleans,  and  partly  up 
the  Ohio  to  Pittsburg.  * 

Can  thi^  trade  ever  corne  to  New- York  ?  Permit  me 
to  submit  the  following  tacts:  St.  Louis  is  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Missouri;  eighteen  miles  above  jt,  the  Mississip- 
pi receives  the  Illinois. — This  river  is  described  as  one 
among  the  very  few,  in  Ibat  western  country,  whose 

♦  uncut  is  gentle,  and  whose  depth  is  little  affected  by 
(fag  seasons.  Its  navigation  for  large  batteaux  extends 
150  miles  and  is  uninterrupted.  Kour  miles  from  this 
point,  the  navigation  of  the  Chicago  commences,  and 
tends  towards  Lake  Michigan.  Of  this  latter  river,  I 
have  only  been  able  to  learn,  that  at  its  mouth  it  is  large 
enough  to  admit  sloops  and  schooners. 

Perhaps  this  transportation  would  not  be  so  expen- 
sive as  that  by  Pittsburg  to  Philadelphia  and  Balti- 
more. 

Again*  were  the  canal  now  completed,  its  supply  of 
water  would  be  as  exhaustless  as  the  Great  Lakes.  Ir- 
rigation might  then  be  applied  to  congenial  districts. 
The  redundant  waters  of  the  Nile  fertilized  Egypt: — 
The  waters  of  the  Vishnei  Yoloshok  Canal  in  Russia, 
are,  it  is  said,  frequently  appropriated.  In  England, 
such  appropriations  have  ripened  into  a  system,  and 
form  upon  many  canals,  an  uniform  item  of  profit. 
Vast  tracts  in  Staffordshire  and  the  midland  counties, 
owe  their  fertility  to  the  canals  that  irrigate  them. 

Again,  were  the  canal  completed,  depots  would  be 
established  along  its  bank  to  furnish  the  interior.  The 
more  vast  the  trade,  and  the  higher  the  state  of  cultiva- 
tion, the  more  numerous  would  these  become,  and  eaei. 
would  require  a  wharf  or  quay.     This  would  be  a 


;'  Schnltz's  Tnirefe,  vol.  2 


r  17  i 


source  of  probable  revenue  to  the  state.  The  few 
wharves  belonging  to  the  Corporation  of  New- York, 
now  yield  20,000  dollars  per  annum.* 

Again,  were  the  canal  completed,  its  course  would 
sometimes  be  along  the  sides  of  hills,  and  would  furnish 
mill-seats.  Objections  certainly  exist  to  indiscriminate 
and  permanent  appropriations  of  this  nature ;  but  these 
may  be  guarded  against,  and  our  caution  may  be  forti- 
fied by  the  experience  of  the  Richmond  canal  on  James 
river.    It  will,  I  conceive,  yield  a  liberal  revenue. 

Again,  Holland  is  indebted  for  no  small  portion  of  its 
fertility  to  the  manure  furnished  from  its  canals.  The 
revenue  accruing  to  the  proposed  canal,  would  certain- 
ly be  much  less,  because  the  water  of  the  Dutch  canals 
is  muddy,  while  ours  would  in  general  be  pure  and  lim- 
pid ;  yet  it  would,  I  conceive,  afford  a  revenue. 

Again,  the  mine  mis  of  our  state  are  very  little  ex- 
plored. Is  it  not  probable  that  in  traversing  such  an 
extent  of  country,  some  subterranean  wealth  would  be 
discovered  Other  beds  of  plaister  might  be  disclosed; 
other  salt  springs  might  be  unbosomed ;  porcelain  or  fine 
clay  might  appear ;  the  geological  characters  in  the 
western  district,  indicate  coal :  were  a  single  bed  un- 
covered, what  accession  would  it  be  to  this  state. 

Again,  it  seems  somewhat  paradoxical  that  canals 
should  be  the  means  of  enhancing  turnpike  stock;  yet 
no  fact  is  more  indisputable,  than  that  its  value  in  Eng- 
land has  risen  as  canal  navigation  has  increased.  Prior 
to  the  year  1780,  the  English  roads  were  badly  main- 
tained ;  the  mail  was  conducted  with  great  slovenli- 
ness, and  the  post  office  was  a  bill  of  cost.  Their  roads 
are  now  unparalleled  for  beauty  and  excellence,  and 
the  post  office  yields  an  enormous  revenue.  Turn- 
pikes are  s^en  in  every  direction,  sometimes  traversing, 
and  sometimes  running  parallel  to  canals.  The  latter 
are  by  no  means  the  least  profitable ;  their  union  pro- 
duces a  kind  of  matrimonial  harmony,  in  which  each 
gains  by  reciprocating  kindness. 

This  fact,  however,  is  not  perhaps  incapable  of  solu- 
tion. Canals  facilitate  internal  communication,  enliven, 
interchange,  and  extend  trade.    Travelling  increases, 


*  See  Report  of  Comptroller. 


[  18  ] 

and  with  it  a  demand  for  its  conveniences.  Bulky  arti- 
cles find  water  conveyance  more  commodious  and  cheap ; 
lighter  ones  find  land  carriage  more  expeditious. 

Again,  the  City  Iiall  in  the  city  of  New-  York,  warms 
the  pride  of  its  citizens,  and  reflects  honor  upon  the 
state.  Difficulties,  natural  and  artificial,  obstructed  its 
completion  ;  for  it  rose  amid  the  struggle  of  party,  and 
the  want  of  adroit  aitizans.  Under  the  direction  of  a 
scientific  engineer,  it  was  made  a  nursery  of  art ;  ap- 
prentice* were  introduced,  whose  ideas  expanded  under 
his  auspices  ;  and  in  the  prosecution  of  thai  elegant 
work,  they  became  skilled;  the  most  distinguished  and 
promising  mechanics  of  the  city  issued  from  that  school, 
and  are  now  opening  the  path  to  further  improvements. 

If  then,  upon  a  work  comparatively  so  limited,  the 
consequences  have  been  so  auspicious,  what  would  now 
be  t Lie  condition  of  the  mechanic  arts,  if  during  the  last 
twelve  years  the  mathematical  and  philosophical  talents 
ot  the  state  had  been  required  to  complete  the  pro- 
posed canal !  The  field  is  as  much  more  ample  as  the 
magnitude  and  importance  of  the  canal  surpass  those  of 
the  city  hall.  A  school  of  civil  engineers  would  have 
been  formed  ;  an  universal  inland  navigation  would  be 
as  obviously  useful  as  turnpike  roads ;  demand  would 
animate  intellectual  exertion  ;  the  State  of  New- York 
would  become  the  focus  of  the  sciences,  and  the  polar 
star  of  every  valuable  improvement  throughout  the 
Union. 

Again,  if  the  completion  of  the  proposed  canal  would 
enliven,  interchange,  and  extend  trade  ;  if  all,  or  any  of 
the  immense  districts  before  mentioned,  would  draff 
their  foreign  commodities  from  New-York,  the  nation- 
al revenue  would  be  proportionally  enlarged,  and  the 
importance  of  the  state  in  the  national  councils  propor- 
tionally enhanced.  The  revenue  now  furnished  by  the 
City  of  New- York,  is  one  third  of  the  sum  total.  It  is 
not  then  surprising  that  our  movements  should  be  re- 
garded with  jealousy ;  but  it  is  surprising,  that  when 
the  apple  is  within  our  reach,  we  are  not  disposed  lo 
pluck  it. 

Again,  no  axiom  is  more  certain,  than  that  the  tie  of 
interest  imperceptibly  weaves  the  bond  of  social  kind- 
ness and  political  affection.    The  political  predilections 


[    19  j 


of  the  western  country  must  follow  their  trade  i  How 
momentous  is  this  consideration !  The  war  we  have  just 
concluded,  has  demonstrated  some  important  truths :  It 
has  taught  us  the  horrors  of  an  Indian  warfare  ;  it  has 
also  taught  us  the  dangerous  power  of  our  own  state* 
When  a  turbulent  and  daring  junta  chose  the  moment 
of  public  distress,  to  name  the  price  of  obedience;  and 
amid  the  horrors  of  executive  impotence  and  a  bank- 
rupt treasury,  coldly  chaffered  about  terms,  and  bid  up- 
on national  calamity,  the  State  of  New-Ycrk  stood 
forth  the  champion  of  Union.  She  rose  like  a  giant, 
awful  in  repose,  and  terrible  in  activity.  Her  fiat 
could  have  severed  the  Union,  and  dissolved  the  good- 
ly fabric  of  our  government.  If  then  her  power  be  so 
vast,  how  important  is  it  that  no  counteracting  influence 
should  creep  into  her  councils  ? 

Presented  in  this  light,  the  contemplated  canal  dis- 
plays its  intrinsic  importance.  lis  completion  may  se- 
cure the  devotion  of  the  western  section  of  our  state  to 
the  union,  and  its  neglect  may  attach  it  to  Canada.  It 
may  bind  the  Indians  of  the  immense  country  bordering 
on  the  lakes  by  the  tie  of  interest,  or  sever  them  by  pre- 
dilection for  a  rival.  To  neglect  it  is  to  foster  an  inter- 
nal foe,  who  will  gather  strength  from  our  supineness, 
"whose  interest  will  soon  clash  with  ours,  spread  desola- 
tion along  our  borders,  and  make  the  war-whoop  the 
precursor  of  rancorous  hostility  and  continued  intestine 
commotion.  To  accomplish  it  is  to  link  that  country 
to  the  union  by  chains  more  durable  than  adamant,  and 
to  transform  a  people  now  tending  to  animosity,  into 
active  and  zealous  friendship. 

But  when  a  stupendous  and  sublime  work  is  agitated 
by  a  free  and  intelligent  people,  an  appeal  should  not 
be  addressee!  solely  to  their  cupidity  or  to  their  fears  : 
Profit  should  certainly  be  the  basis  of  every  enquiry 
that  affects  the  canal,  but  must  it  also  form  the  super- 
structure and  embellishments?  Money  is  not  the  only 
ingredient  in  national  or  state  greatness.  Munificence 
and  knowledge  have  their  importance,  and  religion,  like 
its  glowing  prototype  the  sun,  beams  light,  life  and 
beauty  upon  all.  To  vivify  and  diffuse  these  is  the 
primary  duty  of  the  statesman,  and  the  proposed  canal 
vvrii  not  be  without  its  influence. 


L  20  j 


The  efficiency  of  internal  trade,  in  promoting  private 
virtue  and  public  happiness,  is  not  a  novel  doctrine. 
Vattel  says  "  Men  are  bouncien  to  assist  each  other,  and 
contribute  as  much  as  is  in  their  power  to  the  perfection 
and  happiness  of  beings  like  themselves.  A  home  trade 
being  the  means  of  obtaining  these,  the  obligations  to  car- 
ry on  and  improve  this  trade,  are  derived  from  the  very 
contract  on  which  society  was  formed."*  Sir  William 
Jones  declares  that  "the  real  civilization  of  a  country 
depends  much  less  on  its  commercial  transactions  with 
other  states,  than  on  a  close  and  constant  intercourse 
among  its  own  inhabitants*"!  1  Itime  and  Smith  corro- 
borate the  senitment;  they  drew  the  materials  for  opin- 
ion from  history;  they  perceived  that  Carthage  was 
conspicuous  alike  for  vast  wealth,  public  duplicity,  and 
private  barbarity  ;  and  that  when  Home  had  attained 
the  plenitude  of  glory,  and  the  throne  of  Augustus  was 
festooned  by  poetry,  genius  and  taste,  the  gorgeousi.e-- 
of  royalty  did  not  lend  to  civilize  the  people.  Common 
schools  were  unknown,  and  internal  commerce  was  con- 
temned. 

That  wealth  alone  is  permanent,  and  that  refinement 
alone  is  valuable,  which  emanate  from  the  meliorated 
condition,  enlarged  information,  and  purified  morality 
of  the  subordinate  classes.  That  £oveinmcnt  alone  is 
stable,  in  which  the  majesty  and  splendor  of  power  are 
borrowed  from  the  smile  of  lowliness,  and  in  which  the 
gradations  from  the  supreme  magistrate  to  the  mendi- 
cant, are  uniform  and  successive.,:  The  sources  of 
these  gradations,  are  the  diffusion' of  common  schools, 
and  the  promotion  of  religion.  In  the  present  organi- 
zation of  society,  the  foundation  whence  these  derive 
nutriment,  is  "wealth.  If  money  be  the  root  of  all  evil, 
it  is  also  the  loot  of  all  public  good,  for  public  good 
can  only  be  demonstrated  through  its  expenditure. 
V  hence  the  charitable  institutions  that  do  honor  to  the 
City  of  New-Yob*  !  Whence  its  magnificent  temples 

*  Viittel,  b.  3.  c  8.  s.  5. 

j-  Jones  on  Bailment — preface,  p.  4. 

$  Not  artificial  gradations  established  by  la;v,  and  forming-  a  distinction  of 
orders,  but  natural  gradations,  originating  in  the  diversities  ci  intellect,  im- 
printed by  Heaven  on  the  human  draracter. 


[    21  ] 


in  honor  of  God  ?  Whence  its  Bible  societies ;  ks  reli- 
gious deportment ;  its  patriotism  and  magnificence  ? 
Whence  the  dignity  and  grandeur  of  t  lie  state  ?  Whence 
its  exalted  station  among  the  confederate  slates?  Whence 
its  influence  upon  the  destinies  of  the  Union  ?  Wealth 
is  the  foundation  of  them  ail, 

Is  it  not  singular  that  the  national  wealth  and  reli- 
gious spirit  of  Great-Britain,  have  risen  hand  in  hand 
during  the  last  sixty  years  ?  The  year  1756  is  a  memo- 
rable era.  Lord  Chatham  then  took  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment ;  Lord  Mansfield  was  raised  to  the  judicial  bench, 
and  the  Duke  of  Bridg  water  projected  his  grand  canal. 
It  was  the  first  in  England.  From  that  period  her 
march  to  power  has  kept  pace  with  her  internal  im- 
provement. The  price  of  labour  has  trebled  ;  the  poor 
man  now  eats  white  bread  where  he  formerly  ate  brown, 
and  drinks  tea  where  he  formerly  drank  water.  Scro- 
phulous  diseases  are  rapidly  disappearing.  Common 
schools  are  spreading  in  every  county,  and  religion  is 
beaming  its  blessings  upon  the  cottage. 

If  then  great  and  good  men  declare  that  the  improve- 
ment of  internal  communication  is  an  efficient  mean  of 
promoting  happiness  and  virtue,  and  a  solemn  duty  ; 
and  if  our  own  experience  sanction  the  sentiment,  why 
is  the  subject  beneath  the  benediction  of  the  holy  pre- 
lates of  our  religion  I  Thev  are  the  ambassadors  of 
God  upon  earth,  it  is  theirs  to  wield  the  thunder  of 
his  denunciations,  and  to  reflect  the  radiance  of  his  be- 
nignity. If  it  be  laudable  to  demand  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah,  a  contribution  from  our  abundance  to  furnish 
missionaries,  who  sometimes  advance,  and  sometimes 
retard  the  blessed  cause,  is  it  not  laudable  to  promote 
an  object,  whose  accomplishment  would  effect  more 
than  the  labors  of  missionaries  for  centuries  ?  It  is  iiot 
merely  a  matter  of  profit.  To  accelerate  the  subjuga- 
tion of  the  wilderness,  is  to  shed  the  Sun  of  revelation 
as  well  as  of  the  firmament,  upon  fields  that  now  sleep 
in  darkness,  and  to  raise  up  adorers  to  God,  where  the 
panther  andtiie  wolf  now  prowl. 

2d.  If  it  be  expedient  to  complete  the  canal,  is  it 
practicable  ? 

In  every  science  there  are  certain  propositions  of  a 


[  22  J 

nature  so  obvious  that  demonstration  cannot  elucidate 
them.  It  U  an  axiom  in  mathematics  tliat  a  part  is 
greater  than  the  whole  :  and  in  political  economy,  that 
water,  labor,  and  money,  operating  upon  soil,  can  make 
a  canal.  If  water  can  be  supplied,  laborers  procured, 
and  money  furnished,  the  proposed  canal  is  practicable. 
Each  of  these  heads  is  entitled  to  full  discussion. 

Seven  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  commission- 
ers were  appointed  to  gather  materials  lor  public  opin- 
ion. They  were  men  distinguished  for  pol it icaJ  influ- 
ence, atld  moral  elevation  who  had  merited  public? Con- 
fidence, They  entered  upon  the  duty  with  zeal,  amass- 
ed information,  and  projected  plans.  Every  enquiry 
served  to  expand  the  subject,  and  its  incalculable  bless- 
ings ;  and  conviction  soon  ripened  into  enthusiasm.  Pub- 
lic caution,  however,  progressed  with  a  measured  pace. 
The  plans  were  canvassfd  and  objections  started,  some- 
times to  subserve  malignity,  and  sometimes  to  derive 
instruction.  The  commissioners,  moving  in  a  higher 
sphere  of  information,  forgot  the  vale  in  which  they  had 
left  their  fellow-citizens,  and  interpreted  public  igno- 
rance into  perverse  obstinacy.  In  imparting  informa- 
tion, they  sometimes  mistook  petulance  for  firmness 
and  sarcasm  for  argument.  The  purity  of  their  mo- 
tives served  only  to  quicken  their  sensibility,  and  the 
dignity  of  the  office  was  sometimes  merged  in  the  feel- 
ings of  the  man.  A  vague  declaration,  that  at  fifteen 
millions,  its  accomplishment  would  be  cheaply  purchas- 
ed, alarmed  public  caution.  Plans  not  well  matured, 
which  were  presented  rather  as  nuclei  to  opinion,  than 
as  opinion,  reacted  doubly.  The  wisdom  of  the  com- 
missioners served  to  injure  the  cause  they  had  espous- 
ed. The  public  discovered  that  the  plans  proposed 
were  impracticable,  and  naturally  inferred  that  what 
their  sagacity  had  not  discovered,  was  more  splendid 
than  judicious,  and  only  merited  abandonment.  Many 
whose  avocations  precluded  minute  enquiry,  could  not 
discriminate  between  the  permanent  grandeur  of  the 
design,  and  the  evanescent  errors  of  its  pr  jetted  exe- 
cution, and  deemed  it  impracticable,  because  no  practi- 
cable plan  had  been  suggested 

The  first  erroneous  idea  was  that  of  locking  the  falls 
of  Niagara,  and  thost  of  Oswego.    This  plan  derived 


C  23  ] 


sanction  from  the  able  report  of  Mr.  Secretary  Gallatin.  - 
It  was  soon  discovered  that  produce  once  admitted  up- 
on lake  Ontario,  and  having  to  choose  between  New- 
York,  by  Oswego  river,  or  Montreal,  by  the  St.  Law- 
rence, would  seek  Montreal ;  that  the  lockage  of  Ni- 
agara falls  would  only  serve  to  aid  a  rival  :  that  the  St. 
Lawrence  might  be  improved  for  sloop  navigation,  as 
cheaply  as  a  boat  navigation  could  be  made  from  Os- 
wego to  Rome,  and  the  passage  would  be  less  tedious  ; 
and  that  by  this  route  the  work  would  be  as  expensive 
as  that  by  lake  Erie.    The  plan  was  abandoned. 

The  second  plan  was  grand  and  imposing.  It  was  to 
canal  from  lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson,  and  to  draw  wa- 
ter from  the  lake  by  an  inclined  plane  for  the  whole 
line.  Among  many  specious  advantages,  it  was  sug- 
gested that  t  he  descending  would  far  outweigh  the  as- 
cending produce.  But  to  accomplish  this  design,  stu- 
pendous aqueducts  were  to  be  erected :  tunnels  were 
to  be  perforated  :  height  and  depth  were  to  be  disre- 
garded. It  was  abandoned. 

But  these  immature  plans  were  not  destitute  of  utili- 
ty. The  community  was  awakened  :  enquiry  was  agi- 
tated, and  truth  elicited.  The  materials  for  infor- 
mations are  become  abundant,  and  a  plan  is  at  length 
suggested  in  which  height  and  depth  are  not  disregard- 
ed ;  in  which  our  improvements  will  not  aid  a  rival 
power,  and  in  which  the  expense  is  reduced  to  analagous 
certainty,  and  is  not  alarming. 

A  permanent  and  adequate  supply  of  water  is  a  pri- 
mary consideration :  for  without  it  labor  and  money 
would  be  idle. 

On  the  summit  level  at  Rome,  the  waters  of  the  Mo- 
hawk River  and  Wood  Creek  can  be  taken  and  car- 
ried eastward  or  westward,  and  the  waters  of  Fish 
Creek  can  be  brought  in  as  auxiliary,  if  wanted.  In  go- 
ing eastward  from  Rome,  at  eight  miles  we  reach  Ons- 
kany  creek — twelve  miles  Sedaghqueda  creek  :  and 
pursuing  eastward  along  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk, 
we  find  various  copious  streams,  at  every  few  miles  dis- 
tant from  which  an  abundant  supply  of  waters  can  be 
obtained  to  serve  as  far  as  the  Little  Falls.  At  this 
point  it  will  be  found  easy  to  continue  a  supply  of  wa- 

*  See  public  report  of  1SO0,  on  lutern&l  Improvement. 


[    21  ] 

ter  from  the  (Vlpbawk  river,  which  carried  on  a  very 
few  miles  can  be  aided  by  various  powerful  streams 
which  fall  into  the  Mohawk  between  the  Little  Falls 
and  the  Schoharie  creek,  and  this  stream  will  give  a 
great  supply  to  carry  eastward. 

On  the  western  route  from  Home,  after  leaving  it,  in 
14  miles  we  reach  Oneida  creek, 


18  -  Cowarten  creek, 

26  -  Canaserago  creek, 

29  -  Chittenengo  creek. 

34  -  Limestone  creek, 

40  -  Butternut  creek, 

40  -  Onondaga  creek. 


This  last  stream  is  the  only  one  which  lies  so  low  as 
to  make  a  lateral  cut  of  some  length  necessary,  say  4 
«n*  t»  miles  up  the  Onondaga  valley  :  This  cut  would 
however  he  useful  as  a  branch  .coming  into  the  main 
ti link  at  right  angles.  All  the  other  streams  (except 
Oneida  creek,  which  will  require  a  lateral  cut  of  two 
miles  to  bring  in  a  Reder)  lay  so  near  the  level  of  the 
canal,  as  to  require  nothing  more  than  a  dam  of  4  to  8 
feet  to  bring  the  water  of  the  creek  upon  a  level  with 
the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  canal. 

Proceeding  westward — at  54  miles,  Nine  Mile  Creek 
or  Otisco  outlet.  Westward  from  this  are  several  co- 
pious streams — 

Until  at  68  miles  is  the  outlet  of  Skaneatelis  lake, 

72  do.  Bread  creek  and  Cold  Spring  brook., 

73  do.  the  outlet  of  Owasco  lake, 
85   do.  Crane  brook, 

89  do.  the  outlet  of  Cayuga  lake. 

Besides  those  waters,  there  are,  within  this  route, 
various  small  streams  which  may  be  brought  in,  and 
many  of  which  are  sufficient  for  mills,  and  will  be  a 
great  accession  if  required. 

From  Cayuga  lake  to  the  Genesee  river,  the  canal 
can  be  supplied  from  the  outlet  of  the  Seneca  lake — 
from  the  outlet  of  the  Canandarqua  lake — from  Mud 
creek — from  Irondequort  creek,  and  from  the  outlet  of 
the  Honeyoa  lake.  Crooked  lake  communicates  with 
Seneca  lake  ;  so  that  from  those  waters  and  the  Cayu- 
ga lake  the  supply  will  be  inexhaustible. 

From  the  Genesee  river  to  the  western  extremity  of 


t   25  ] 


the  canal,  it  will  receive  the  waters  of  lake  Erie  or  Ni- 
agara river — of  Tonewanta  creek,  and  of  all  the  streams 
north  of  the  Tonewanta  which  flow  into  lake  Ontario. 

It  may  not  be  untimely  to  notice  an  objection  that 
carries  great  plausibility,  and  has  influenced  many  w7ell- 
disposed  minds.  It  is  the  seeming  Heedlessness  of  ca- 
nalling  along  the  Mohawk,  and  also  within  a  few  miles 
of  lake  Ontario. 

To  assail  public  prejudices  is  always  dangerous,  for 
they  generally  spring  from  the  existing  condition  of 
things.  The  reply  of  Brindley  would  seem  an  absurd- 
ity in  this  country,  and  yet  nothing  is  more  true  with  re- 
gard to  England.  He  was  asked,  "  what  was  the  use  of 
rivers  ?"  "  To  feed  navigable  canals,"  he  replied.  In 
England  all  the  streams  are  shallow  and  circuitous 
Their  banks  are  irregular,  and  afford  no  facilities  to 
navigation.  But  our  streams  are  of  two  kinds ;  such  as 
are  bold  and  navigable,  and  such  as  are  interrupted  by 
falls,  freshets,  and  drought.  The  former  were  canal- 
led  by  nature.  She  has  furnished  water  and  air  to  con- 
vey produce,  and  a  canal  along  their  banks  would  be 
quixotic  folly,  and  a  criminal  waste  of  public  treasure. 
But  when  a  stream  is  interrupted  by  shoals,  falls,  and 
rapids  ;  when  its  depth  and  current  fluctuate  with  the 
seasons  ;  when  neither  sails  nor  steam  can  be  employ- 
ed ;  when  its  banks  are  at  times  too  precipitous  to  ad- 
mit the  construction  of  towing  paths  ;  when  the  coun- 
try through  which  it  flows  is  fertile,  and  not  too  remote 
from  a  market,  it  was  designed  by  nature  as  a  reservoir 
for  a  canal.  Attempts  to  improve  such  navigation,  re- 
peatedly made,  have  repeatedly  failed.  In  France,  up- 
on the  Garonne  ;  in  Germany,  upon  the  Rhine  ;  in  Swe- 
den, upon  the  line  between  Gottenburg  and  Stockholm  ; 
in  England,  upon  the  Trent,  the  Avon,  and  the  Severn ; 
in  this  country,  upon  the  head  waters  of  the  Hudson, 
upon  the  Mohawk,  and  the  Potowmac,  dear-bought  ex- 
perience has  demonstrated  its  impracticability.  In  Eng- 
land, the  nature  of  the  rivers  has  at  length  produced  an 
unqualified  preference  of  canal  navigation,  and  upon  ri- 
vers of  a  similar  character  in  tiiis  state,  it  will  be  pru- 
dent to  consult  their  experience. 

In  corroboration  of  the  practicability  of  the  proposed 
canal,  and  the  facility  of  conveving  water,  it  may  not 

4 


f  *  3 


be  useless  to  compare  what  lias  been  done  m  other 
countries  and  in  our  own,  with  what  we  have  to  do. 

In  England  water  is  scarce,and  economy  is  indispensa- 
ble. Reservoirs,  of  various  dimensions,  form  a  part  of 
almost  every  canal.  Their  expense  is  proportionate  to 
their  magnitude*  and  they  need  constant  attention.  In 
Prance  the  reservoir  of  the  Languedoc  canal  contains 
59.3  acre  s,  nearly  a  mile  square.  But  in  this  ^tate  wa- 
ter is  abundant,  and  no  RESBBvoiB  is  required. 

Again  :  Tunnelling  mountains  waa  not  unknown  to 
the  Komans.  It  was  used  in  most  of  their  aqueducts. 
In  modern  times  they  are  common.  That  of  the  Lan- 
guedoc canal  is  720  feet  long.  In  England,  that  of 
Hellcar  tough,  in  Derbyshire,  isfoui  miles  long.  That 
of  the  Duke  of  Bridge  ater's  coal  works,  at  Worslcv,  in 
Lancashire,  is  eighteen  miles,  in  length.  Where  it  is 
not  cut  through  the  solid  rock  it  is  arched  with  brick. 
I  speak  with  confidence,  for  I  have  traversed  the  whole 
distance.  Tfflt  PROPOSED  canal  WjLL  require  ffo 
TUNNEL. 

Again  :  Among  the  Roman?,  aqueducts  were  con- 
structed to  convey  water  to  the  great  cities,  Their 
splendid  ruins  in  Spain,  France  and  Italy,  attest  the  de- 
parted greatness,  the  mooted  wealth,  and  scientific  pe- 
nury of  that  people.  Pn  their  course  they  crossed  im- 
mense  vallies,  and  perforated  stupendous  mountains. 
In  modern  times,  liiquet  has  the  honor  of  applving 
them  first  to  canals.  B  rind  ley  introduced  them  into 
England,  and  since  that  period  they  are  become  so 
common,  as  to  be  made  matters  of  experiment.  Stone 
has  sometimes  been  superseded  by  iron,  and  it  is  not 
le?s  true  than  curious,  that  a  cast  iron  aqueduct,  secur- 
ed by  clamped  flanches,  was  completed  in  17fj/>,  upon 
the  Shrewsbury  canal,  62  yard  longs  ;  and  another  in 
1801,  was  thrown  across  the  Dee  (20  miles  from  Ches- 
ter) 329  yards  long,  2il  feet  wide,  6  feet  deep,  and  126 
feet  high.  The  proposed  canal  will  require  but 
one  large  AQUEDUCT,  vi> .  over  Gmesee  river. 

Again  :  In  china,  embankments  of  prodigious  height 
and  extent,  are  common,  In  England  they  have  been 
in  a  great  measure,  superseded  by  iocks.  But  in  Hol- 
land," almost  every  canal  is  a  continued  embankment, 
and.  subserves  two  purposes  ;  one  to  repel  the  ocean. 


[    27  ] 


the  other  to  carry  off  the  water  that  spring  leaves  upon 
its  sunken  soil,  and  which  is  pumped  into  the  canal  by 
windmills.  The  proposed  canal  requires  no  em- 
bankment. 

A^ain ;  Lock  navigation  is  as  well  understood  in 
this  country,  as  in  England,  and  the  expense  of  con- 
structing it  is  ascertained  by  experience.  The  locks  at 
the  Little  Falls,  on  the  Mohawk,  were  first  constructed 
of  brick.  But  the  cement  soon  washed  out,  and  the 
work  crumbled.  They  are  now  of  stone,  and  the  cost- 
is  well  known.  Upon  the  canal  of  Middlesex,  28  locks 
are  finished  in  the  most  workmanlike  manner.  At  Hue 
Seneca  falls,  a  contract  has  just  been  made  to  construct 
locks  in  the  best  manner,  for  Si 0,000  per  lock.  Upon 
the  proposed  canal  The  descent  is  precisely  ascer- 
tained ;  the  number  ot  locks  determined,  and 
their  expense  calculated  with  indisputable  pre- 
CISION. 

2d.  As  to  labour. 

The  more  obdurate  the  soil,  the  more  labour  will  be 
required,  and  vice  versa.  Soft  clay  is  most  propitious 
to  canal  operations,  because  its  tenacity  prevents  leak- 
age, and  forms  a  natural  water-tub  ;  and  because  it  is 
easily  dug.  Next  to  clay,  is,  I  believe,  a  limestone 
loam,  and  then  the  soil  of  a  valley,  it  is  an  axiom  in 
mineralogy,  that  a  limestone  country  is  always  fertile. 
Mr.  Secretary  Gallatin  lias  informed  ud  that  the  vast 
valley  between  the  Alleghany  and  Blue  ridges,  i  on  a 
limestone  bed.-  It  is  I  believe  also  true,  that  the  stra- 
tification of  a  limestone  country  is  in  general  regular, 
and  sparsely  interrupted  by  rocks  or  indurated  earth. 
If  these  be  facts,  a  route  more,  favorable  to  ca nailing, 
cannot  be  named.  From  Schenectady  to  Rome  it  >v  ili 
run  through  a  valley  ;  from  Rome  to  the  Genesee  over 
a  limestone  bed  ;  from  the  Genesee  to  the  Eighteen- 
mile  creek,  through  a  loamy  soil,  and  from  the  Eigh- 
teen mile  creek  to  lake  Erie,  through  a  clay  swamp. 
Hence  digging  will  be  neither  difficult  nor  expensive. 

Again  :  The  proximity  and  abundance  of  materials 
have  an  influence  upon  the  requisite  quantity  of  tabor. 
Those  principally  wanted,  are,  stone  for  ihe  locks,  ce- 
ment, clay  and  gravel  for  puddle,  and  timber.  L'pon 


Report  on  Internal  Improvement,  1809, 


[  28  ] 


every  part  of  the  route,  all  these  abound  of  an  excel 
lent  quality,  except  cement,  of  which  the  most  approv- 
ed is  imported  from  Holland,  and  called  terras*. 

Again  :  It  has  been  plausibly  urged  against  the  con- 
templated canal,  that  its  prosecution  will  enhance  the 
price  and  scarcity  of  labor,  embarrass  the  farmer,  reduce 
his  crops,  and  impoverish  the  state  ;  that  the  last  war 
drew  ofi'labourcrs,  and  enhanced  wa^es:  and  that  the 
canal  will  have  a  similar  operation.  If  these  objections 
be  true,  they  are  weighty.  The  respectable  and  nu- 
merous class  whom  they  affect,  entitles  them  to  ample 
consideration. 

The  true  reason  why  canals  have  not  been  very  pro- 
fitable in  this  country,  is,  that  the  points  they  connected 
were  of  minor  importance;  or  they  flowed  through  a 
sterile  country ;  or  they  were  badly  planned  and  con- 
ducted. I  am  bold  to  assert,  and  dare  contradiction, 
that  no  country  was  ever  impoverished  by  a  canaj  which 
connected  a  fertile  district  with  an  ample  market.  In- 
land navigation  has  been  the  precurser  of  internal 
wealth  in  ancient  Egypt,  in  Holland,  in  France,  in 
Russia,  and  in  England.  The  want  and  impracticabili- 
ty of  it  has  maintained  the  interior  of  Africa  a  wilder- 
ness, and  Tartary  a  den  of  wanderers. 

Again:  If  the  proposed  canal  enhances  in  its  execu- 
tion, the  price  of  labor,  it  would  also  increase  consump- 
tion. If  it  become  more  difficult  to  raise  wheat,  the 
wheat  raised  will  be  more  valuable.  Every  man  who 
labors  upon  the  canal  must  be  fed  and  clothed  ;  must 
apply  his  earning  to  purchase  food  from  the  farmer,  and 
clothing  from  the  merchant. 

Again:  If  labor  would  be  enhanced,  additional  in- 
centives would  be  furnished  to  our  eastern  brethren. 
They  would  migrate  to  this  state,  and  every  settler 
would  add  to  the  number  of  our  citizens,  and  the  wealth 
of  the  state.  Their  number  and  importance  would  be 
in  proportion  to  the  rise  of  labour. 

Again  :  The  war  certainly  drained  our  labourers, 
and  enhanced  labour.  It  was  part  of  the  price  we 
paid  for  the  conservation  of  national  character.  But  in 
w  ar,  labour  is  consumed  in  military  duty,  and  leaves  no 
trace.  Upon  the  canal  its  duration  would  be  as  perma- 
nent as  the  repose  of  nahue.  In  war  it  is  wasted  abroad ; 


C  29  ] 


upon  the  canal,  it  would  be  bestowed  where  the  labor- 
er was  maintained. 

Again  :  Is  the  high  price  of  lalor  an  evil  ?  In  Eng- 
land labor  has  trebled  in  price  since  1756,  yet  her  pow- 
er was  never  so  gigantic,  her  internal  wealth  never  go 
vast,  her  canal  navigation  never  so  much  prized,  and 
her  turnpike  stock  never  so  high  as  at  this  period.  The 
price  of  labor  has  almost  doubled  in  this  country  since 
the  year  1790.  ,  Yet  it  will  hardly  be  denied,  that  our 
state  is  flourishing,  and  that  the  condition  of  every  class 
is  daily  meliorating. 

But  when  will  the  price  of  labor  cease  to  rise  in  this 
country  ?  If  it  has  almost  doubled  within  the  last  26 
years,  what  events  will  tend  to  diminish  it  ?  Can  it  de- 
cline,  as  long  as  any  land  is  unsettled  between  t  he  Mis- 
sissippi and  the  Pacific.  While  there  is  waste  land,  emi- 
gration must  continue;  and  while  emigration  continues, 
labour  will  be  high.  Until  population  increase  more 
rapidly  than  capital,  it , cannot  decline,  and  centuries 
must  roll  away  before  that  time  can  arrive.  Must  we, 
then,  await  that  period,  and  must  the  canal  be  deferred  ? 

Again  :  The  preceding  reflections  are  proffered,  up- 
on the  supposition,  that  the  execution  of  the  proposed 
canal  will  enhance  the  price  of  labor.  But  perhaps  the 
supposition  is  unfounded.  Perhaps  labor  will  not  be 
enhanced.  For  let  us  suppose  the  act  passed,  commis- 
sioners appointed  to  commence  the  work,  and  requisite 
funds  pledged.  Would  their  first  busines  be  to  ransack 
the  country  for  labourers,  to  huddle  them  hastily  to- 
gether,  and  lavish  the  public  treasure  without  rhyme 
or  reason  ?  No.  Sometime  must  be  consumed  in  pro- . 
curing  a  competent  and  responsible  engineer,  in  repeat- 
ing the  surveys,  in  exploring  the  adjacent  country,  in 
gauging  the  tributary  streams,  and  ascertaining  their 
average  discharge,  in  boring,  and  determining  the  qual- 
ity of  the  strata  to  be  excavated,  in  providing  the  requi- 
site materials  and  machinery,  in  examining  the  spots  best 
adapted  to  the  culverts,  the  safety-gales,  the  weirs, 
and  bridges,  in  estimating  the  probable  evaporation,  ab- 
sorption and  leakage,  in  importing  terrass,  in  detecting 
the  springs  and  rivulets  that  flow  though  or  near  to  the 
proposed  route,  in  negociation  for  the  lands  through 
which  it  must  pass,  in  estimating  the  indemnity  due  for 


r  so  j 


damage  to  water  appropriated,  in  determining  whore 
to  begin,  and  that  vast  and  multifarious  detail  which  a 
work  so  valuable,  so  complicated,  and  so  practicable, 
demand?.  Three  years  would  be  well  spent  in  achiev- 
ing these  preliminary  objects.  At  the  expiration  of 
that  lime,  would  lliey  trumpet  forth  that  they  were 
prepared,  assemble  a  horde  of  laborers,  and  give  indis- 
criminate; employment  ?  I  conceive  not.  The  system 
of  labor  mti^t  be  methodized,  as  well  as  the  details  of 
the  plan  :  the  mariner  of  doing  must  be  understood,  as 
well  the  thing  to  be  done  This  can  only  result 
from  time.  The  mass  that  will  oiler  for  employment 
will  partake  of  every  shade  of  depravity  •  Time  alone 
will  enable  the  commissioners  to  discriminate,  and  in  the 
interim  their  individual  c<>  nfprt,  their  political  reputa- 
tion, and  the  public  interest,  will  actuate  them  to  be 
parsimonious  in  giving  employment. 

F|yg  years  must  elapse,  alter  the  public  sanction  is 
given,  before  the  work  can  go  full)  and  fairly  into  ope- 
ration, and  full  latitude  be  afforded  to  employment,  in 
the  interim  mare  than  three  hundred  men  cannot  be 
usefully  employed.  Would  that  number  enhance  the 
price  of  labor,  diminish  the  crops  of  the  farmer,  and 
impoverish  the  state  ? 

Again  :  The  utmost  number  that  can  be  employed  at 
Mice,  will  be  2000.  Our  population,  in  1800,  was  .08(5,14  J ; 
in  1810,  it  was  9.30,220.  Population,  like  the  snow- 
ball, gathers  in  a  geometrical  ratio.  In  1810,  the  ave- 
rage annual  increase  of  population  in  the  state,  was 
37,307.  It  may  now  be  fairly  estimated  at  10,0  JO.  Be- 
fore the  demand  for  labor  upon  the  contemplated  canal 
can  be  efficient,  our  population  will  have  increased  by 
200,000.  Is  it  then  reasonable  to  believe  that  a  body 
which,  when  needed,  will  not  be  one  hundreth  part  of 
our  augmented,  nor  oae  six  hundreth  part  of  our  whole 
population,  can  seriously  affect  the  price  of  labor,  or  ar- 
rest the  growing  grandeur  of  a  state,  whose  treasury 
now  contains  S5,000,000,  and  whose  people  are  enter- 
prising, and  intelligent  as  they  are  proud  ? 

These  sentiments  and  opinions  are  sanctioned  by  high 
authority.  Mr.  Secretary  Gallatin  has  maintained  that 
"it  is  always  a  public  saving  to  cut  a  canal  when  the 
annual  expense  of  transportation  on  a  given  route  by 


f  31  ] 


land  exceeds  the  interest  of  the  capital  employed  to  im- 
prove the  communication  and  the  expense  of  transpor- 
tation by  that  improvement    If  the  price  of  labor  affects 
a  canal,  it  affects  also  the  transportation." 
3d.  As  to  the  expense. 

It  is  perhaps  to  be  regretted,  that  the  commissioners 
had  not  withheld  every  estimate  of  expense  until  the 
present  plan  had  been  submitted.  Public  opinion  would 
probably  have  been  unbiassed,  and  reason  would  have 
full  scope.  The  peculiar  nature  of  the  soil,  the  numer 
lous  facilities,  and  sligh*  obstacles  to  its  completion, 
would  have  appeared  with  all  the  effulgence  of  truth, 
and  the  expense  would  have  assumed  an  aspect  far  more 
flattering  than  it  has  generally  worn.  The  first  esti- 
mate allotted  to  it  $  6,000,000  and  the  commissioners 
hazarded  an  opinion,  that  at  $15,000,000  the  acquisi- 
tion would  be  valuable.  The  second  estimate  still  al- 
lotted $6,000,000  and  provided  for  double  that  amount. 
Perhaps  the  lowest  estimate  will  be  found  to  surpass 
probability. 

Within  the  last  56  years,  upwards  of  1100  miles  of 
canal  navigation  he  ve  been  cut  in  Great-Britain.  They 
traverse  the  country  in  every  direction  ;  some  are  very 
short,  and  some  are  very  long.  Amid  such  a  diversity, 
it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  some  places  have  been  in- 
judiciously contrived,  and  some  lavishly  executed : 
Yet  the  most  expensive  canal  ever  cut  in  England,  cost 
but  £  10,528  sterling,  or  $46,791  per  mile.  It  was  the 
canal  of  Gloucester  and  Barkeley,  and  is  navigable  for 
vessels  drawing  18  feet  of  water.  In  the  midst  of  its  ex- 
ecution, the  engineer  discovered  a  bed  of  solid  roek  un- 
der a  stratum  of  clay,  JO  feet  thick ;  hence  its  enormous 
cost. 

One  other  canal  in  England,  cost  £  9388,  or  $  41,724 
per  mile:  It  was  the  Rochdale  canal,  its  vast  expense 
was  occasioned  by  three  reservoirs,  eight  aqueducts, 
one  tunnel,  and  a  deep  cutting  through  solid  rock,  50 
feet  deep,  an  100  horse  steam-engine,  and  thb  high 
price  of  land. 

Three  other  canals  cost  £  8422  sterling,  £  8222,  and 
£  7650  sterling,  per  mile.  Two  were  injudiciously 
planned ;  the  third  was  the  Duke  of  Eridg water's,  hav- 
ing a  tunnel  of  18  miles. 


[    32  j 


Eight  oilier  canals  have  been  completed,  for  sums 
varying  from  1550/.  steil.  or  $  6888  88,  to  4444/.  aterL 
or  19,752  dols.  per  mile.  Their  aggregate  length  is  294 
miles:  tbeii  -aggregate  cost,  1,021,000/.  making  an  aver- 
age of  3457/.  sterl.  or  1  .'3,44/3  dols.  per  mile. 

The  cost  of  laud  is  included. 


Arundel 

40 

200,000 

5000 

Barnesley 

13 

97,000 

6466 

Basingstoke 

37 

1 80,000 

4865 

Bridgwater 

28 

440,000 

7520 

Chester 

18 

80,000 

4444 

Chesterfield 

40 

160,000 

3478 

Coventry 

22 

120,000 

5454 

Ciomlord 

18 

80,000 

4444 

Croyden 

9.2 

80,900 

8422 

Klhsmere 

57 

400,000 

7017 

Lirth  and  Clyde 

35 

212,000 

6051 

Glamorganshire 

25 

100,000 

4000 

Glow  I  hter  Berks. 

18.3 

200,000 

10,528 

Grand  Surry 

12 

60,000 

5000 

Gransham 

33.1 

124,000 

3730 

Ik  reford  &  Glouces'i 

35.2 

55,000 

1530 

Lancaster 

75.3 

414,000 

5465 

Leeds  &  Liverpool 

129 

800,000 

6200 

Lecest'r  &  iVorlhum. 

43  3 

300,000 

6818 

Leominster 

45 

370,000 

8222 

Montgomery 

27 

92,000 

3i07 

Oakham 

u 

80,000 

5733 

Oxford 

91 

330,000 

3626 

Rochdale 

31.2 

291,000 

9380 

Wilts  and  Berks 

52 

311,900 

5999 

As  far  as  my  researches  have  extended,  no  canal  on 
the  Continent  has  exceeded  30,000  dollars  per  mile. 

In  this  country,  the  highest  estimate  ever  made,  was 
48,0;  i0  dollars  per  mile,  over  a  route  of  the  most  diffi- 
cult character.  A  mile  has  been  cut  for  2300  dollars. 
The  canal  at  Charleston  was  injudiciously  planned  and 
executed ;  it  was  22  miles  long,  and  cost  650,000  dol- 
lars. 

When  we  reflect  that  such  a  preponderance  of  the  ca- 
nals in  England,  have  cost  no  more  than  14,000  dollars 
per  mile ;  that  canals  in  this  country  have  been  cut 
through  hard  rocky  ground  for  13,000  dollars,  and  thro' 


[    33  ] 


ordinary  ground  for  2300  dollars  per  mile ;  that  the 
proposed  canal  will,  for  100  mile?,  run  through  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mohawk,  and  an  alluvial  soil,  and  for  sixty 
miles  through  a  soil  of  clay  ;  that  one  large  aqueduct 
only  will  be  necessary;  that  no  tunnelling,  no  reser- 
voirs, no  embankments,  and  no  deep  cutting  will  be  re- 
quisite ;  that  the  land  ceded,  will  amply  pay  all  the  land 
to  be  purchased  ;  and  that  the  high  price  of  human  la- 
bour is  partly  balanced  by  the  cheapness  of  machinery 
and  brute  labour,  is  it  not  rational  to  conclude  that 
its  cost  will  not  exceed  10,000  dollars  per  mile,  or 
3,000,000  dollars ! 

Are  then  the  resources  of  the  State  adequate  to  its 
accomplishment? 

If  our  beloved  country  were  disturbed  by  invasion  ; 
if  a  powerful  foe,  with  an  army  of  200,000  myrmidons 
could  penetrate  our  country  to  the  interior,  and  menace 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  the  General  Government 
might  pause  to  learn  what  estimation  each  member  of 
the  political  compact  affixed  to  liberty.  -  In  the  hour  of 
need,  it  might  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the  state  of 
New- York,  and  solicit  a  requisition  of  4,000,000  dol- 
lars. Does  any  man  believe,  that  for  our  country,  our 
government,  our  liberty  and  our  religion,  the  state  could 
not  forthwith  answer  the  demand?  If  he  does,  he  under- 
stands neither  the  haughty  spirit,  nor  the  patriotism  of 
its  citizens. 

If  then  a  like  sum  could  not  be  raised  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  proposed  canal,  the  incapacity  would 
spring  not  from  the  poverty  of  the  state,  but  from  the 
insufficiency  of  the  motive. 

Again,  the  commencement  of  the  canal  will  neither  dis- 
turb the  existing  condition  of  things,  nor  bow  down  the 
people  with  taxes.  The  expenditure  must  be  gradual. 
Twelve  years  must  elapse  before  the  work  can  be  com- 
pleted. In  the  interior,  the  state  is  not  stationary  ;  since 
tiie  year  1790,  (a  period  of  25  years)  her  population  has 
trebled,  and  the  real  and  personal  property  of  her  citi- 
zens has  increased  eight  fold.  If  the  last  sod  of  the  pro- 
posed canal  were  removed  in  1828,  what  would  then  be 
the  condition  of  the  state?  The  Onondaga  salt-works 
would  be  doubled ;  half  the  wild  land  of  the  state,  a 
I  tract  of  1,000,000  acres,  would  be  subdued  ;  the  popu- 

5 


t  31  j 


lation,  which  in  1810  was  959,220,  would  be  2,000,000; 
and  the  property  of  the  citize  ns,  w  hich  in  1810  was  esti- 
mated at  .000,00*0,000  dollars,*  would  be  doubled. 

Again,  the  resources  of  the  state  will  not  be  absorbed 
liv  the  canal  ;  all  that  is  required,  is  the  state  credit,  to 
be  employed,  not  upon  a  foreign  expedition  to  gratify 
ambition,  but  upon  internal  improvement.  Upon  that 
credit  money  can  be  borrowed  in  Europe  at  5  per  cent, 
and  can  be  loaned  within  the  state,  upon  mortgage,  at 
'  per  cent,  per  annum.  The  difference  of  rate  is  the 
tribute  of  confidence  to  wealth  and  punctuality.  But 
to  borrow  low,  pledges  for  the  punctual  payment  of  in- 
terest must  be  guaranteed  ;  and  to  do  justice  to  posteri- 
ty, provision  should  be  made  for  the  gradual  extinction 
of  the  principal.  Let  us  suppose  these  preliminaries 
adjusted  :  What  would  be  the  actual  cash  advance  of 
the  state,  and  its  condition  at  the  expiration  of  12  years? 
If  .000,000  dollars  were  expended  annually,  during  the 
time,  and  one  per  cent  of  the  principal  annually  paid, 
the  account  would  stand  thus: — 


Principal  owed. 

Interest  pd. 

Inter,  ree'd. 

End  of  1st  year. 

g. 5,940,000 

8  300,000 

S  385,000 

2d  ' 

5,880,000 

297,000 

350,000 

3d 

5,820,000 

294,000 

315,000 

1th 

0,760,000 

291,000 

280,000 

5th 

5,700,000 

288,000 

245,000 

6th 

5,640,000 

286,000 

210,000 

7th 

5,580,000 

282,000 

1 75,000 

8th 

5,520,000 

279,000 

140,000 

9th 

5,460,000 

276,000 

105,000 

10th 

5,400  000 

273,000 

70,000 

11th 

5,340,000 

270,000 

35,000 

8  3,135,000  g2,310,000 

Fractions  are  disregarded. 

At  the  expiration  of  12  years,  the  state  would  have 
advanced  for  principal,  720,000 
and  for  interest  above  what  it  had  received  £25,600 


g  1,545,000' 

or  an  average  annual  advance  of  $  130,000. 


r  Si€  Soafford's  Gazetteer. 


r  35  ] 


The  state  would  owe  (supposing  the  work  to  cost 
even  56,000,000)  $  5,340,000 ;  and  tins  stupendous  work 
would  be  accomplished.  This  supposes  that  the  sec- 
tions successively  finished  would  yield  no  income,  un- 
til the  whole  was  completed.  Those  who  are  familiar 
with  the  country  between  Cayuga  and  Rome,  know 
that  if  this  section  were  finished,  it  would  instantly  yield 
a  revenue  of  $  300,000  and  be  annually  increasing. 

In  the  consideration  of  the  funds  to  be  pledged,  your 
legislative  wisdom  will  regard  at  once  their  efficiency, 
and  the  obligations  of  those  who  would  be  most  bene- 
fitted. As  the  wrestern  country,  and  the  cities  of  New- 
York  and  Albany  would  fall  under  this  class,  they 
should  be  the  principal  contributors. 

Upon  the  particular  funds  that  may  be  appropriated  in 
the  mode  of  assessment,  it  is  not,  however,  my  province 
to  comment. 

"Delays,"  it  has  been  well  observed,  "  are  the  refuge 
of  weak  minds."  There  is  in  all  stupendous  undertak- 
ings, a  point  within  which  it  is  dangerous  to  act,  and 
beyond  which  it  is  cowardly  to  be  idle.  It  is  that  mo- 
ment in  which  we  possess  our  subject,  and  have  appre- 
ciated its  hazards*  If  the  proposition  of  the  Grand  Ca- 
nal were  new  ;  if  the  ground  had  not  been  surveyed  ; 
if  information  had  not  been  obtained ;  if  the  obstacles 
had  not  been  ascertained,  appropriation  might  be  re- 
garded as  premature.  But  during  seven  years  the 
great  and  wise  men  of  our  state  have  not  been  idle  ; 
and  the  result  is,  a  profound  conviction  that  the  mo- 
ment is  arrived. 

Will  delay  profit  us?  will  it  diminish  the  price  of  la 
bour  ?  or  of  land  ?  or  of  materials  ?  or  of  brute  service  ? 
The  country  is  daily  improving:  What  would  now 
ceded  as  a  donation,  will  in  a  few  years  furnish  produce 
for  a  rival,  and  be  purchased  dearly.    Villages  are  dai- 
ly springing  into  life,  and  forming  rival  and  clashing  in 
ierests.    Appropriations  of  water  are  daily  multiplying  ; 
mill  privileges  daily  occupying ;  and  at  this  moment 
petitions  are  submitted  to  your  honorable  body,  for  in- 
corporations to  improve  the  navigation  of  Seneca,  in 
order  to  facilitate  transpoitation  down  the  Susque- 
TiannaTi. 


[    36  ] 


If  llien  the  proposed  canal  would  redeem  the  plight- 
ed honor  of  I  he  state;  if  it  would  cerh.tinh/  rescue  the 
trade  of  Oneida,  Otiondaga,  Cayuga,  Seneca,  Ontario, 
Genesee,  Niagara,  Chatanqna  and  Catiftraugus^  from 
Montreal,  and  secure  it  to  Albany  and  New- York  ; 
if  the  present  annual  burp] us  produce  of  that  country 
be  equal  in  value  to  .^,700,000  bushels  of  wheat,  or 
.0,000,000  dollars;  if  it  would  convert  the  lumber  of 
Cayuga  and  Onondaga,  from  an  incumbrance  to  the 
land,  Into  a  revenue  for  the  country,  and  saving  to  the 
eities  of  AlbAUY  and  NfcW-YoRK;  if  it  would  make 
IVkw-VChk  the  fountain  of  supply  to  that  eoiiiatry,  off 
f  1  ■■'■i-chandize  ;  if  it  would  diminish  the  cost  of 
Bait,  and  enhance  the  profit  of  the  works;  if  it  would 
enable  the  gypsum  of  the  west  to  supersede  that  of 
Nora-Scotia*  and  supply  the  valuable  eounties  on  the 
Hudson,  at  one  half  its  present  price  ;  if  it  would  facili- 
tate building,  manuring,  and  (he  details  of  agricultural 
life  ;  if  it  would  probably  secure  the  trade  of  04,000,000 
no  es,  bordering  on  the  western  lakes  ;  if  it  would  pro- 
bably secure  at  present  the  fur  trade  ;  if  the  period  must 
arrive,  when  the  value  of  life  annual  surplus  produce  of 
that  country  will  be  128,000  000  bushels  of  wheat,  or 
102,000,000  dollars  ;  if  it  would  probably  enable  New- 
Y OR k  to  supply  it  for  a  century  to  come,  with  foreign 
commodities ;  if  ISV.w-York  would  be  the  market,  at 
once  nearest,  cheapest,  and  easiest  of  access ;  if  that  city 
would  undersell  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  or  New- 
Orleans,  at  Pittsburg  and  Louisville;  if  it  would 
probably  secure  the  hemp  trade  of  Kentucky;  if  it 
would  facilitate  competition  for  the  produce  of  the  lead 
mines  of  Louisiana  ;  if  by  irrigation,  it  would  yield  a 
revenue,  while  it  enriched  the  soil ;  if  it  would  furnish 
wharves  and  mill  seats,  and  accommodate  manufactur- 
ing establishments,  while  it  yielded  a  revenue  ;  if  its 
manure  would  enrich  the  adjacent  country;  if  it  would 
enhance  turnpike  stock,  and  improve  roads;  if  it  would 
form  a  body  of  civil  engineers;  if  it  would  increase  na- 
tional revenue,  and  enhance  the  political  influence  of  the 
State  ;  if  it  would  be  an  instrument  to  avert  intestine 
commotion;  if  it  would  promote  the  diffusion  of  reli- 
gion— If  the  supply  of  water  would  be  permanent,  pure 
ancl  adequate  ;  if  it  require  no  tunnel,  no  reservoir,  no 


E    37  ] 


embankment,  atod  but  one  large  aqueduct ;  if  the  coun- 
try be  peculiarly  propitious  to  canalling ;  if  materials 
are  near  and  abundant ;  if  it  would  not  enhance  the 
price  of  labor,  nor  disturb  the  existing  condition  of 
things  5  if  experience  in  England  and  this  country, 
countenance  the  opinion,  that  the  cost  would  be  much 
less  than  the  lowest  estimate  made  by  the  commission- 
ers ;  if  the  work  can  certainly  be  achieved  for  an  actu- 
al advance  of  1,500,000  dollars  ;  if  that  advance  would 
only  be  required  in  annual  installments  of  130,000  dol- 
lars ;  if  the  resources  of  the  state  would  be  neither 
cramped  nor  absorbed  ;  if  delay  serve  only  to  nurture 
opposition,  and  diminish  facility — The  moment  is  ar- 
rived. 

The  voice  of  Reason  ;  the  voice  of  Religion ;  the 
voice  of  your  Fellow  Citizens,  tells  you  it  is  arrived. 
Your  tables  are  groaning  beneath  the  weight  of  Peti- 
tions. You  are  called  upon  to  act  with  prudent  firm- 
ness, and  cautious  munificence ;  to  conciliate  popular 
sentiment  by  legislative  wisdom,  and  to  ordain  that  the 

CANAL  BE  MADE. 

Upon  questions  of  local  or  temporary  consideration, 
that  involve  neither  the  general  principles  of  our  gov- 
ernment, nor  the  great  and  permanent  interests  of  our 
beloved  country,  party  collision  may  be  harmless.  But 
upon  objects  vast  as  the  aggrandizement  of  our  state, 
hallowed  as  the  promotion  of  religion,  and  durable  as 
public  good,  patriotism  enjoins  to  merge  personal  and 
political  animosity  in  public  solicitude,  and  to  convince 
the  confederate  states,  that  New- York  is  worthy  of  her 
exalted  station, 

FINIS. 


ERRATUM, 
la  the  22d  page,  3d  line  from  the  top,  for  greater  read  less. 


